At the height of Obama mania, a significant announcement was made by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in the fight against malaria.
On July 24, drug and research company GlaxoSmithKline submitted the first malaria vaccine for approval by the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organisation. Locally, researchers involved in the trial of the vaccine, which will be marketed under the brand name ‘Mosquirix’, said the initial trials show it to have a 30% success rate.
This means that of the 500,000 annual global deaths attributed to malaria, a possible 150,000 could be prevented. “This is a welcome addition to the fight against malaria. It is not the silver bullet and a lot still needs to be done for it to be mass-administered. But this is definitely a move in the right direction,” Dr Waqo Ejersa, head of Kenya’s Malaria Control Unit, said.
According to the manufacturer, the vaccine uses the AS01 adjuvant system, and works by preventing the parasite from infecting, maturing, and multiplying in the patient’s liver. The vaccine also aims to trigger an autoimmune response when the parasite first enters the bloodstream.
During the trials, the vaccine was delivered in three doses, one month apart.
No malaria vaccine has been developed before. “Because of this, any vaccine that promises some immunity for such a large and vulnerable population represents an advance in the battle against one of the world’s biggest killers,” GSK said.
The eternal endeavour by researchers and scientist to develop a cure or a stop-gap measure to curb the spread of this deadly virus has led to the development of previously successful prevention measures such as the use of mosquito nets and more rudimentary methods such as the clearing of grass patches and drainage of stagnant pools. (THE STANDARD)
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